ASFPM Flood Hazard Fellowship Fund History

The ASFPM Flood Hazard Fellowship Fund (FHFF), established by the Board of Directors on May 3, 1988, is used to provide awards to recognize and encourage individual achievement in the profession of flood hazard management.

The Fund was established in the spirit of advancement of the field of floodplain management as practiced by Dr. Gilbert White, the initial contributor to The Fund. Dr. White, with a lifetime devoted to promoting floodplain management concepts and reducing the human and material impacts of floods and other hazards, embodies the spirit of advancement and achievement to which the Association subscribes. It is not necessarily awarded every year.

Recipients

CHRIS STEWART (1997), University of Texas at Austin. While Chris Stewart was a graduate student at the University of Texas, the award assisted him in a six-month internship with a German engineering firm to study sustainable floodplain management techniques. After his internship, Mr. Stewart returned to the University of Texas to complete his graduate work and wrote a paper entitled Technical Solutions and Natural Disasters, A Summary of an Internship in Ingenieur Dienst Nord, Oyten, Germany, which he presented at the ASFPM National Conference in Milwaukee in May, 1998.

JAMES WRIGHT (1996), The FPM Group, Seymour, Tennessee. Jim Wright conducted research leading to a paper entitled Floodplain Management: It's Origins and Evolution. The award supported Jim in his work on this comprehensive account of the history of floodplain management techniques as used in the United States.

ROD EMMER, PH.D. (1994), Flood Damage Reduction and Wetland Conservation: Three Successful Projects in Louisiana Have Common Characteristics, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Rod Emmer cut through the administrative and programmatic weight of successful mitigation projects and asked what makes them work. By using three examples - the development of a storm tracking chart, the elevation of several buildings and a wetlands conservation project - he identified eight common characteristics these success stories share. Individual determination, tenacity, acknowledgement of technical shortcomings, early political support and several other subtle resource and coordination characteristics were identified. Presented in a thoroughly comprehensive fashion, the report can act as a check and balance for anyone undertaking a mitigation project.

GERALD KAUFFMAN, (1992), Citizen, The Flint Creek Greenway Plan Barrington, Illinois. In a classic multi-objective management case story, Gerald Kauffman saw the need, as a citizen, to pull together the input of citizens with vested interests in the future of their local floodplain. The plan represents the results of a grass roots multi-objective stream corridor management program from an interested citizens group perspective. It was disseminated to fourteen agencies and groups as the voice of the citizens. Today, elements of the plan have been implemented.

JACK SERRELL (1991), Sand Dune Inspector, Town of Mantaloking, New Jersey, The Dunes of Mantaloking, New Jersey. Jack Serrell and his partner, J. R. Pilling, Dune Inspectors for the Town of Mantoloking, recognized that more needed to be done to manage the protective sand dunes of their town. With assistance from Paul Jeffery Godfrey of the University of Massachusetts Botany Department they developed a very unique dune maintenance ordinance, prepared a publication called The Dunes of Mantaloking, distributed it to Mantaloking residents, and had the local paper complete a full story on the effort. The FHFF played a central role in supporting original investigations, achieving hazard reduction and expanding public awareness.

RICHARD MARTINEZ, P.E. (1990), Establishment of a Floodplain Management Reference Library Tucson, Arizona. Richard Martinez used the FHFF donation to assist in the establishment of a floodplain management reference library to obtain and catalog periodicals, manuals, reports, research documents, drainage reports and maps. Although far from the caliber of the Natural Hazards Center in Boulder, Colorado, the reference library was in response to the need to have a centralized location for floodplain management material locally accessible.

TRUDY LAING (1989), Executive Secretary, "Public Awareness on a Shoestring" Frankfort, Kentucky. Through her work with the Kentucky Flood Control Advisory Commission, Trudy used the FHFF donation to disseminate hazard mitigation information to contractors, heating and plumbing specialists and other overlooked advocates of flood damage reduction. She stated, "All too often floodplain management information is directed to state and local governments, overlooking what organizations could contribute toward "down-to-earth application." Congratulations to Trudy for exceeding the usual bounds.